My Rock
by allisonlovesdegrassi
Summary: Clare's mother wants to meet Eli... but things might not go as planned when Mr. Edwards doesn't show up to dinner. What is Mrs. Edwards hiding?
1. Chapter 1

Brisk fall air wafted through the front door of The Dot as yet another Degrassi student came in, causing the short, fine hairs on Clare's bare arms to stand on end. She should have known leaving her jacket in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car was a bad idea, but their usual after-school hangout's warm, cozy atmosphere had convinced her otherwise. When he saw her shudder, he immediately shrugged off his own jacket and passed it to her from across the table. Clare accepted it, wrapping it around her shoulders and giving him a shy smile.

That smile was more than enough of a thank you for Eli. Every time he gazed into those big, blue eyes looking back at him, it was a blissful reminder that she had given him a second chance— and that she was all his. Likewise, he knew he belonged to her, which was more than he could ever wish for. He felt his heart lighten and his cheeks grow warm as he reluctantly averted his attention back to the story he'd been proofreading for her. Though he didn't know it at the time, being assigned a writing partner was one of the best things to happen to him.

"No vampires!" he exclaimed with exaggerated astonishment, teasing Clare for her customary genre. "Instead, we have an exquisite narrative symbolically centered on a young woman's necklace. Well, done, Edwards."

She looked away, blushing, and picked up the delicate cross hanging around her own neck, twirling it between her thumb and forefinger. "I strayed from the guidelines just a bit," she said, still staring down at her feet. "It's not entirely fictional."

With a final once-over, Eli slid the paper back to her. "I won't tell. But I must admit," he added, leaning back in his seat, "I'm curious to see how Edmund Greene ever got out of his romantic slump. Your last piece sort of left me hanging."

Clare rolled her eyes as she stuffed her English binder into her messenger bag. "It's almost 4:30, I'm supposed to be home by then." She stood up from the table.

"Alright." Eli quickly jumped up to meet her, easily slinging an arm around her. She gripped the inside of his jacket, bracing herself for the cold. Together they left behind the smell of fresh coffee and hum of mindless chatter and stepped out into the cloudy November day.

* * *

"Right on time," Mrs. Edwards commented as Clare got home after exchanging goodbyes with Eli. Her mother sat at the dining room table, fingers clicking on her laptop with a steady rhythm.

"Yeah, I was at The Dot," Clare said, already making a beeline to the staircase.

"Who with?" her mother asked, as if she didn't already know.

"Eli."

"Mmm." Clare halted then. She knew that this barely audible noise meant that the conversation was not yet over. After a few beats, her mother added, "You've been spending a lot of time with that boy, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah, mom. I mean, he is my—" her chest still fluttered when she mentioned the word, "boyfriend."

Mrs. Edwards clicked her tongue, and her daughter slowly moved back to the table where she sat. "I think I'd like to meet him," she said. Clare was a little surprised, yet pleased. Her mother wanted to at least make an attempt to meet Eli, something she'd never done with Darcy's boyfriend, Peter. Then again, Peter never had the best reputation with the PTA.

"Okay, when?"

"Bring him over for dinner tomorrow." She then closed her laptop and started making her way to the kitchen. "Speaking of which, what do you want to have tonight?"

Clare shrugged. "I don't know. What does dad want?"

"Your father won't be joining us for dinner tonight." Her mother scanned the refrigerator, and then pulled out a pot of leftover chili. "Working late again. Does this work?" Clare nodded before heading to her bedroom.

Now that she thought about it, Clare hadn't seen her father at all since two days before. He had been working late a lot lately and normally left the house before she even woke up in the morning. Hopefully, he'd be able to make it to the dinner and meet Eli. She placed her hand over the cross that hung around her neck, silently praying for all to go well tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Clare's alarm clock went off an hour earlier than usual. Without pressing snooze even once, she slid out of bed and crept downstairs to find her father. She had to be sure he was going to be home for dinner that night, and the only way she could was by hearing it from him herself. A knot formed in her throat as she found all the lights in the first floor of her home unlit, the rooms still and silent.

Heart racing, she ran back to her parents' bedroom and peeked in to find her mother still snoozing on her half of the bed. The other half— her father's— was still as neatly made as the night before. Had he already left and made it on his way out, or had he never even come home last night? Defeated and confused, Clare lay back in her own bed, remaining there awake for the next hour.

* * *

Eli scrunched up his face overdramatically as Clare licked the palm of her hand and smoothed his hair down. She was giving him one last inspection on her front porch before meeting her parents inside. "How do I look?" he asked with a little smirk. He found her neurotic tendencies endearing.

"Perfect," Clare told him with a grin, the smell of potatoes au gratin once again tickling her nostrils. "You really didn't have to bring anything." She gestured to the covered casserole dish in his hands.

"Never show up to a dinner party empty handed." He winked.

It was show time. After taking a deep breath, Clare opened the front door with one hand while gripping her cross in the other. _Please let him be home, please let him be home…_

"Mom? Dad?" She called as she stepped over the threshold and onto her cream, carpeted floor. Mrs. Edwards— alone— emerged from the kitchen.

"Hi, honey!" she said, taking off her apron and kissing her daughter on the forehead. "And you must be Elijah?" she asked, offering him her hand.

"Eli," he corrected with a bright smile. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Edwards."

"Likewise." Eli saw as she noticed the potatoes.

"My dad made these," he said, offering them to her.

"Oh, wonderful! Just put them on the table, everything else is ready."

Eli did just so, and the three took their seats around the table, which was set for three. Clare's head was spinning, thousands of possibilities racing through her mind.

As the salad bowl was being passed around, Clare blurted, "Where's Dad?"

"Same as last night, Clare. Working late," her mother said tightly and shot her a warning look.

"No he's not, mom. He wasn't home this morning. Did he even come home last night?" She remained silent. "TELL ME."

"Clare," Mrs. Edwards hissed. "Eli, could you excuse us for a moment?" He nodded, his expression blank— he did know some of what had been going on in their family for the past few months.

Clare followed her mother into the living room, where she turned to face her daughter with her fingers pressed to her temples. "Your father and I," she said softly, "are trying to work some things out right now.

"Where is he?" her daughter repeated her question.

Mrs. Edwards sighed. "A hotel in the city. He's… going to be there awhile."

Clare squeezed her eyes shut, fighting off tears. "Why didn't you tell me," she whispered. Her mother gently touched her shoulder, which is when she backed away and screamed, "WHY DIDN'T YOU_ TELL_ ME?" With that, she was flying up to her bedroom, where she yanked the stupid gold chain off her neck and flopped onto her bed.

Tears were running hot down her cheeks, and she could feel her heart beating in her ears. How long had her father been staying in a _hotel_? Had things really gotten that bad between her parents? And how couldn't her mother tell her something this vital? After they'd had that talk all those weeks ago, she thought they'd agreed to be open with each other. She'd been wrong all this time.

Eli slowly opened the door to Clare's bedroom, of which he'd never been inside. All he could focus on was her sitting on her bed on the far side of the room with her face in her hands, shoulders shaking with sobs. He started toward her, but on his way, noticed something glistening on the hardwood floor: a delicate golden cross adorned with tiny diamonds, its chain pulled off and thrown a few feet over. He thought back to the piece of hers he'd read at The Dot the day before— _The diamonds were her rock, despite their size; the cross, her armor. As long as it was close to her heart, she knew she was safe._

He sat beside Clare on her bed, carefully stringing the chain back through the pendant. Gently, he wrapped the necklace around her neck and fastened it. Without saying a word, he leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck where the chain's clasp fell, then nestled his forehead in her hair. When he felt her sob, he wrapped his arms around to the front of her stomach, taking her hands in his. Only then did he murmur, "Shh, it's going to be okay."

And for just a moment, Clare almost believed it was.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything began to slow down as Clare leaned into Eli, his warm arms surrounding her— the speed of her racing heart, the momentum of the room as it spun around them, the haste of the tears that streamed down her face. It was all fading away; her thoughts and worries and fears had been set free, hiding someplace where she'd find them later. Yes, she would find them again, she would pick them up and carry them with her as she always had— but not now. In this moment, there was only her and Eli, who was now gently massaging her quivering hands with his own, his cheek still resting on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling guilty for dragging him into this. He deserved to have a normal relationship for once. He already had enough baggage that she was just adding to. Clare was all wrong for Eli, and she knew it. A sob surfaced from her chest as these thoughts developed.

"Shhh," he soothed her again. The sight of her crying made his heart ache, and worse yet, she was _apologizing_ for it. "It's okay. I'll stay here as long as you need me." With that statement, the two felt a strong surge of devotion toward one another. It wasn't a lie, or even an exaggeration. Eli knew he'd do anything to take Clare's pain away, even if it meant bringing it upon himself.

Clare closed her eyes, inhaling deeply to take in every bit of Eli's scent. He had the typical boy scent about him, dark and musky. Lingering along with it, though, was a sweet smell- like grapefruit. It seemed that absolutely every part of Eli was dynamic, right down to the way he smelled. Clare liked that about him, his aura of mystery, like another thing could surprise her at any second.

Then she felt Eli suddenly sit up straighter, lifting his head from the back of her neck and inching his body away from hers just slightly. Clare's ice-blue eyes shot open, and after giving them a moment to adjust, she saw her mother leaning in the doorway. She was standing with her arms awkwardly crossed, her face painted with false composure though discomfort showed clearly on her brow. It obviously made her uneasy to see the two so close together, though she didn't say anything but "Clare, can I speak to you a minute, honey?"

Eli took this as his cue to leave, breaking away from Clare entirely and rising to his feet. He remained there for just a second, reaching behind his back to take her hand in his own and squeeze it once before walking out of her room. Once he was gone, Mrs. Edwards slowly stepped in, shutting the door behind her. Clare crossed her arms and snapped her head away from her mother, focusing instead on a magazine lying open on her carpeted floor that she was now itching to pick up. With all the chaos now in her life, she wanted at least her room to be perfectly in place. Then again, a large mass of breathing disorder had just walked in and was now sitting on the bed beside her and placing a hand on her arm. Things were quiet, and they could hear a car engine outside the window. It was probably Eli driving off in Morty.

"Sweetie, I know I should have told you about your father sooner—"

"I'm not a child, mom," Clare interrupted her mother, finally facing her. She realized she actually had a lot to say. "When all this shit started, I thought we came to terms on that." Mrs. Edwards's eyes grew wide. Clare was actually stunned by her own language as well, but she kept going. "I thought you were going to start telling me things like this. Because I'm not as stupid as you think, and there are things I need to know. A-and if you don't just tell me the truth, I might expect worse..." Tears started rolling down her cheeks, the lump in her throat making it hard to speak. "Just tell me what's going on, Momma," she choked.

Her mother, who was now crying as well, grabbed onto both her hands, holding them tightly. "None of us understand exactly what's happening right now, Clare," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "What we do know is that... your father doesn't love me anymore. We were so young when we got married, and now that we've grown up... well, we've grown apart. Our priorities have changed, we don't care so much about the same things. It's not your fault, it's not Darcy's fault, it's not anyone's fault. It's just the way it is. But we can't keep living like this, Clare, do you understand? We're not happy, and neither are you. And that's why we're... getting a divorce."

There was nothing Clare had to say. She just nodded and fell into her mother as more tears came. She was sobbing for the separation of her parents, for the sadness of her mother, for the loss of her life as she knew it. Yet at the same time, the tears that fell were those of relief. Finally, she didn't have to wonder about what was going on, and things could now get better.

After the mother and daughter sat in silence and staggered breaths for a good while, Mrs. Edwards suggested they head back downstairs to have something to eat. As Clare reached the dining room, she was surprised to see Eli standing with his hands shoved into his pockets, facing a wall of photos.

"You're still here," she said more to convince herself than inform him. He turned to face her and shrugged.

"I said I'd stay, didn't I?" he asked, and then gave Clare the more sincere smile she'd ever seen. Without thinking twice, she stepped closer to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He brought his own around her lower back and, with a smirk, whispered in her ear, "And remember, Miss Edwards. It's not nice to swear."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there it is! I'm sorry I took so long giving you the conclusion to this story- yes, I said conclusion- and I'm sorry it's so short. This is the second and final chapter, haha. I'm still getting used to this website... and this whole fanfic writing thing, to be honest. Anyway, I'm going to be making a story that will be a series of Eclare one-shots, so if you liked this, keep a lookout for that! Um... thanks to everyone who read/favorited my stories and gave feedback, it really means a lot and it's the reason I'm continuing with fanfic! :)**


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